Convert TAR to ZIP online
Drop a .tar and download a compressed .zip — read and re-packed entirely in your browser, no command line, no upload.
Drop your .tar anywhere on this page
The tar is read and re-packed as a ZIP entirely in your browser — nothing is uploaded.
A plain .tar is a package with no compression at all. tar — short for tape archive — bundles many files into a single stream while keeping their names and folder structure, and that is all it does; the bytes inside are stored verbatim. Converting a .tar to a .zip therefore does two things at once: it re-packages the same files into the universal container *and* compresses them, since ZIP always applies Deflate. The result opens with a double-click on every desktop OS.
ZipTool does the conversion in your browser. You open the page, drop the .tar onto it, and the file tree renders locally — the tar is parsed in-page, with no decoder to download. Click Convert in the file-tree toolbar, pick ZIP, and download the rebuilt, compressed archive. Nothing is uploaded; the network is only ever used to load the page itself. For the format background, see the tar format page and what is a tar.gz file.
How to convert TAR to ZIP in your browser
No command line, no upload. The browser decodes the .tar and writes the .zip locally.
- Go to ZipTool and drag the
.taronto the page (or use the file picker, or paste a URL). The archive is decoded in your browser and the file tree opens. - Click Convert in the file-tree toolbar (next to Extract-all). The converter reads the TAR entries that are already in memory.
- Choose ZIP as the output format. The entries are re-packed into a standard
.zipwith Deflate compression and a central directory - Download the
.zip. The rebuilt archive is produced locally and handed to you as a download — your original TAR and its contents are never transmitted anywhere.
Is it really private?
Yes. "Online" here describes where the tool runs — a web page — not where your data goes. The .tar is decoded by an in-page tar reader running inside your tab, the entries are re-packed into a ZIP in memory, and the result is offered as a download. No server ever receives your file, its contents, or the converted archive.
You can prove it to yourself in a few seconds. Drop a .tar onto the page, wait for the file tree to open, then disconnect from the internet. The convert-to-ZIP step still works, because nothing about it depends on a network request. A tool that fails the moment you go offline was uploading your data. ZipTool does not. For the broader privacy case, see why client-side is safer than uploading.
Why convert TAR to ZIP?
Because a plain tar, unlike a tar.gz, is uncompressed, converting to ZIP almost always makes the file smaller — Deflate shrinks text and most binaries, and a tar of source code or documents often compresses by half or more. You also gain compatibility: Windows Explorer and macOS Archive Utility open ZIPs natively, while a plain tar on Windows has historically meant a terminal. It is the rare conversion that improves both size and reach at once.
Plain tars are common wherever the compression step is deliberately left out — Docker image layers, some backup workflows, and interchange between Unix tools that apply their own compression afterwards. If you received one and just need the files out, see extracting a tar.gz online (it covers plain tars too); to browse it first, start at the tar format page. For the wider picture, see archive file formats.
Honest limits
Conversion is a real capability here, with a few real boundaries worth knowing.
- You cannot convert TO RAR or 7Z. RAR encoding is proprietary to WinRAR — no browser (and no honest free tool) can *create* a
.rar. ZipTool converts in the other direction only: RAR, 7z, tar.gz, tar, and gz *into* ZIP, TAR, or TAR.GZ. See creating a zip online. - Unix metadata does not survive. A tar records Unix permission bits, ownership, and symbolic links; a ZIP stores plain files and folders. Symlinks come across as regular files and permissions are normalized — relevant if the tar is a Unix package where the metadata matters.
- Browser memory is the ceiling. The tab holds the decoded entries and the rebuilt ZIP in memory, so a very large
.tarcan get slow. For multi-gigabyte archives a desktop tool is more reliable.
Frequently asked questions
How do I convert a tar to a ZIP online?
Open the page and drop your .tar onto it. The tarball is parsed in your browser, the file tree opens, and you click Convert in the toolbar, choose ZIP, and download the rebuilt, compressed .zip. No command line, no install, no upload.
Will the ZIP be smaller than the tar?
Almost always, yes — a plain tar is uncompressed, so the ZIP's Deflate compression is net new. Text-heavy tars (source code, documents, logs) commonly shrink by half or more; archives of already-compressed media (JPEG, MP4) shrink barely at all.
Do you upload my tar to convert it?
No. The tar is parsed in-page and the entries are re-packed into a ZIP in memory; the result is downloaded locally. This conversion has no decoder download at all — your file never leaves the tab. Confirm it in DevTools (the Network tab shows no upload) and by converting with the internet disconnected, which still works.
What is the difference between tar and tar.gz?
Packaging versus packaging-plus-compression: a tar bundles files without compressing them; a tar.gz is that same bundle passed through gzip. A ZIP sits closer to tar.gz — one container that also compresses, per file rather than as one stream.
Can I convert a ZIP to a tar?
Yes — TAR is one of the converter's targets alongside ZIP and TAR.GZ. Open the ZIP, click Convert in the file-tree toolbar, and choose TAR as the output.